This document outlines plans to transform digital retail marketing efforts according to 8 principles: always learning, creating experiences for all touchpoints, connecting with customers online, helping customers shop anywhere, listening to understand customer needs, knowing key metrics, quickly providing solutions, and collaborating across teams. The goal is to satisfy changing consumer expectations for seamless, personalized shopping. Retailers are urged to improve their online presence, engage customers on social media, respond to reviews, and enable digital shopping in stores. Teams are asked to assess skills, share best practices, and ensure top customer experiences online and through new technologies.

1. Our Creed:
Digital First
Nicolette Harper
Director, Digital Retail Marketing
World Wide Retail Marketing Services
Microsoft Corporation
December, 2015

2. The State of Retail in 2015
After the last year in retail, it would seem that retailers and Microsoft WWRSM
could kick back and take it easy. But retail is changing faster and competition is
fiercer than ever. Only those who satisfy an ever-changing, more empowered
customer, will win.
We’ve seen some great success
In the US, this year's Cyber Monday became the largest
single shopping day in history1
and the first ever to break
the $2 billion mark. And in China, this year's Singles Day
brought in an incredible $9.3 billion1
. Around the world in
the last year, retail sales reached a new high and the gains
are expected to continue with worldwide retail sales
expected to reach over $28 trillion by the year 2018. The
customer is definitely back.
Consumer spending has returned to pre-recession numbers
in the US as their confidence continues to grow.2
And
Retailers are growing stronger financially and they have a
more positive outlook than just a year ago. According to a
Harris Poll conducted in the Fall of 2014, 82% of US retailers polled said their company’s current
financial condition is “Healthy” or “Very Healthy”, compared to only 70% who felt that way in 2013.3
Likewise, Microsoft has been successful in Digital Marketing. We have outpaced the industry averages
with 12.5 million unique visitors using Microsoft syndicated content each month, which is a 28%
increase. And, online sales grew over an 8% last year, with a 6% increase in the online share over last
year.4
Yes, life is good again.
And, yet….
At the same time, the ever-connected consumer now has more influence than ever before on retail.
And retailers and Microsoft are finding it challenging to keep up with the changing wants and needs of
consumers and their retail experience.
An explosion of online and mobile technologies, the spread of social networks, and a new generation of
advanced analytics have combined to create an omnichannel environment that continues to transform
both the shopping experience and customer expectations. Consumers want shopping experiences to be
seamless and personalized, regardless of touch point or technology used.
1
“Worldwide retail sales to top $22 trillion in 2014”, Steven Loeb, Vator News, December 23, 2014
http://vator.tv/news/2014-12-23-worldwide-retail-sales-to-top-22-trillion-in-2014#26wbfbh2TBOQArBE.99
2
“Retail’s Changing Landscape”, CIT, July 2014.
http://www.cit.com/perspectives/executive-insights/retails-changing-landscape/index.htm
3
“2015 Retail Outlook”, Study conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of CIT, Sept., 2014.
http://www.cit.com/wcmprod/groups/content/@wcm/@cit/documents/images/2015-retail-outlook-report.pdf

3. The internet is becoming the primary shopping channel for consumers worldwide. Nearly half of all
shoppers today describe themselves as preferring to shop online, according to a recent study by IBM.4
They increasingly prefer the “browse, click and purchase” shopping experience and there has been a
large shift in the perception of convenience with online shopping over the last 2 years, with 36% of
shoppers surveyed now preferring the delivery of online purchases, up from 23% in 2011.
Consumers now expect information throughout the shopping process, which drives their use of
smartphones and other devices to access information online while they shop, even in-store. In fact,
there are now 3.6 billion4
unique active smartphone users around the world and growing - fast. A study
conducted last summer confirmed that Mobile is firmly a very powerful part of consumer purchase
decisions with 42% of shoppers saying that mobile is the most important media for their decisions. A
third of respondents in that study also said that they
used their mobile device exclusively to aid their
purchase decisions.5
And a staggering 67% of
consumers now multiscreen between multiple devices
at the same time to shop online.6
Mobile technology is clearly blurring the lines between online and good old-fashioned in-store
shopping, shaking up the way we shop like never before and with the great potential to provide the
highly-personalized shopping experience that consumers crave.
Digital is now, most definitely, a big part of successful retail.
A study by Deloitte confirms that the influence of digital devices on in-store purchase behavior has
grown by 175% in two years in the UK, influencing 33% of in-store retail sales, equivalent to almost £100
billion in 2014.7
Further, Deloitte predicts that the effect that digital technology has on in-store sales
will increase to 50% by the end of 2015.
And, while online stores have long been predicted as the death of the Brick and Mortar store, the reality
is that the majority of retail sales are still generated in-store. And, over half of consumers want to use
digital devices in-store, so retail business strategy, more than ever before, needs to focus on how to
leverage digital in-store.
Changes in retail need to move at lightning speed to keep up with this evolving consumer’s
expectations. Increasingly, a retailer’s success is directly tied to their ability to provide relevant,
accurate product information in-store, online and via mobile to deliver the personalize experiences that
will keep customers satisfied.
4
“Shoppers Disrupted, Retailing Through the Noise”, IBM, 1/13/15. http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-
bin/ssialias?subtype=XB&infotype=PM&appname=GBSE_GB_TI_USEN&htmlfid=GBE03643USEN&attachment=GBE03643USEN.
PDF#loaded
5
“The New Shopper Mindset”, study conducted by xAd and Telematics in cooperation with Nielsen, June, 2014,
http://www.mobilepathtopurchase.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2014MPTP_The-New-Shopper-
Mindset_FINAL_6.19.14.pdf
6
“The New Multi-Screen World”, Google/Ipsos/Sterling, 2012.
http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/multi-screen_infographic.pdf
7
“Digital influence in UK retail: The true value of digital in-store”, Deloitte, Jan. 2015.
http://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/digital-influence-in-uk-retail.html

4. That means that Microsoft Retail needs to move faster and smarter.
We have great digital content available for our retailers’ websites, social, mobile, demos and other
digital needs, and we have guidance on how to work with retailers already available. But one size does
not fit all. We need to increase our understanding of each retailer’s specific market, customer, limits
and needs, so that we can find innovative ways to insert Microsoft marketing into their campaigns and
digital programs and better support them. You need to understand how your retailers are using apps,
how they are working with in-store mobile, how they are interacting with customers and promoting
their store(s) and products on social media, and how they are encouraging and managing ratings and
reviews. Armed with that specific knowledge, you will be able to use the content and guidance already
available, to create some amazing, innovative campaigns and solutions that are tailored to each of your
retailers. Your retailers will love you for your stronger partnership and their success. And customers
will love their retailer and Microsoft for providing the personalized, seamless shopping experience they
crave.
These are exciting times in Digital Marketing and while we and our retailers are succeeding, this is
definitely not a time to take it easy. We have much more to do. Microsoft needs to continue the digital
transformation of our retail partners so that, together, we to lead the industry in digital retail marketing
at every touch point that consumers want to use.
This paper outlines our plans to transform our digital retail business and what our channel and field
teams can and should do.

5. Our Creed: Digital First
Always be a student. Create experiences for every touch point and culture.
Connect with customers where they live online. Listen, really listen, and then
understand. Help customers shop when, where and how they want to. Know the
numbers. Deliver solutions fast & easy. Involve everyone.
This is the creed that guides our Digital Marketing efforts.
We are passionate about the ability of Microsoft Digital Marketing to deliver the personalized
shopping experiences that consumers are seeking. We are focusing our efforts on 8 tenants
that match the 8 pillars of our plan for Digital through FY16:
• Always be a student – We all need to be retail digital experts across our entire
Retail Sales and Marketing org, so that our teams can better help our retail
partners’ evolve their current technical capabilities and business strategy to
deliver the omnichannel experience their customers expect.
• Create experiences for every touch point and culture – We will create Digital assets and
experiences that our retailers can tailor for their customers everywhere and connect our
unassisted demos to enable omnichannel retail across all of LOVED.
• Connect with customers where they live online – We will better engage
customers through our retailers on the social media sites that our customers
frequent.
• Help customer shop when, where and how they want to – We will deliver
culturally relevant online and demo tools for use in-store and online that enable
consumers to shop for Microsoft products when, where and how they want to.
• Listen to understand – We need to truly hear what our customers are saying and help them
throughout their purchase journey, so that they can be our best advocates.
• Know the numbers – We will measure and test to know whether our tools and strategies
are working, then fine-tune for optimal results. And we need to continue to better
understand our customers’ changing wants and needs.
• Deliver solutions fast and easy – We need to be great at selling digital products in
retail, so that our customers can buy our products whenever and wherever they
want.
• Involve everyone – Last, we need to leverage our owned channels by connecting
across OEM, MS.COM (owned channels), Microsoft Store, and ATL.
Each of these areas is an essential part of our Digital First strategy for the remainder of FY15
and FY16.
Involve
everyone
Owned
Channel
Deliver
solutions fast
and easy
Digital
Distribution
Know the
numbers
Measure &
Monitor
Help customers
shop when,
where & how
they want to
Digital In-Store
Shopping
Listen to
understand
Reviews &
Ratings
Connect with
customers
where they
live online
Social Media
Create
experiences for
every touch
point and culture
Retail.com
Always be
a student
Digital
Mindset

6. Always be a student
Digital Mindset
The old saying “knowledge is power” is especially true when change happens as quickly as it has been in
retail, with technology and consumers changing every single day. When our salespeople become
students of our industry; regularly shop like our consumers via mobile and online; and understand how
our retail partners interact with customers digitally, they can offer added value to our retail partners
and our customers.
We need to increase our collective Digital IQ so that our knowledge of the customer, our competition,
and strategies is consistent across all team members worldwide. Our goal is to create a community of
world-class Digital Retail digital experts across all of the Retail Sales and Marketing org, so that we can
better help our retail partners’ evolve their current technical capabilities and business strategy to deliver
the omnichannel experience their customers expect.
To accomplish this, we are asking you to:
1. Evaluate current digital capabilities of teams and assess against
current objectives
2. Land best in class digital people per blueprint levels - have a
digital lead in every country
3. Make digital training courses mandatory for all RSM – //Learning
Central
4. Digital Leads submit quarterly Digital Belts for WW best
practices
5. Share best practices through digital community touch points
As the level of digital knowledge and understanding increases across our teams WW, we will develop a
consistent business rhythm between our teams and in our approach with our retailers, to become a
stronger team.
Create experiences for every touch point and culture
Retail.com
We need to create retail experiences for every touch point and culture for our retailers’ websites.
Rather than the old digital tactics and a separate strategy for each individual channel, retailers now must
create a common brand experience across the digital experience on and offline. Customers expect
to access and consume information consistently across all platforms, apps and devices.
If the retailer’s online experience isn’t truly great, no matter what device is used,
you have already lost the customer.

7. To help your retailers strengthen their online presence:
1. Identify digital opportunity with top 4 partners in market
2. Meet with partners to understand capabilities and document how you can help them improve
3. Shop your partner’s online site every morning – set as your homepage
4. Ensure best-in-class online experiences executed 100% to guidance
5. Digital leads conduct formal audits through //sitetracker monthly – optimize execution based on
learnings
It is critical that we provide our retailers with the tools and strategies that enable a premium customer
experience with our products in-store and online.
Connect with customers where they live online
Social Media
We need to connect with customers where they live online – through Social Media. Omnichannel
customers use social online interactions to personalize their own experience and to have fun with
shopping. And, groups of online customers usually have greater product knowledge than salespeople at
stores, both physical and online. Interacting with customers on social sites can give retailers a view of
key buying motivators and what the retailer’s competition is doing.
Since social media has gained significant traction with customers, our
retailers are actively seeking ways to more effectively use those channels.
Over the 2014 Holiday season, SAP Analytics found that shoppers shared
their opinions and recorded their actions with more than 28 million
mentions online, up 8% over last year.8
Clearly, it is important that we
engage customers through our retailers on the social media sites that our
customers frequent.
To hear what our customers are saying and to respond effectively and build relationships, we ask that
you:
1. Build an audience profile and identify which social channels they use
2. Document the behavior you want to drive
8
“Social Media Analytics Reveal 2014 Holiday Shopping Trends and Insights”, Celia Brown, SAP, Forbes, 1/2/15.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2015/01/02/social-media-analytics-reveal-2014-holiday-shopping-trends-and-insights/
“Purchases by
consumers coming from
social networks reached
$3.30 billion
last year, up 26.0%
in 2013.”8
- By top 500 leading social
media marketers in the U.S.
and Canada

8. 3. Construct a calendar around key events/ campaigns and consumer conversations and react to
folding events
4. Partner with PR to integrate messages (dependent on product category)
5. Amplify social conversations with retail partners
6. Monitor what our customers are saying about us and insert ourselves into the conversation
This will give you the ongoing info you need to serve your retailers better and, ultimately, provide the
personalized relationship that customers are looking for.
Listen to understand
Reviews & Ratings
We need to listen to Reviews & Ratings to understand what our customers like and don’t like.
70% of Americans say they look at reviews before taking the
next step to conversion.9
And, as the chart to the right
shows, both U.S. and European consumers trust reviews
written by other customers more than content from the
retailer or the manufacturer. Customer reviews and ratings
are very important directors in the shopping journey.
By answering their questions and providing great service
directly and through our retailers throughout their purchase
journey, we can turn our customers into our best advocates.
Help your retailer win their customers’ hearts, by:
1. Read ratings and reviews content for our products
across retailer sites and agree who is responsible for
action
2. Tackle every negative review with a response
3. Understand how we respond to the reviews and questions to manufacturer – sometimes with
review vendors or direct with retailer
4. Build internal processes with CSS or channel to manage responses
5. Identify trends in and feedback to influence product teams and marketing messages
Help customers shop when, where & how they want to
9
"Zero Moment of Truth", Google, January, 2013

9. Digital In-Store Shopping
Last Fall, a Google study10
found that 2 out of 3 shoppers did
not find the information they needed in-store. We need to
deliver online and demo tools that are globally relevant and
that work in-store for the culture and COT so that consumers
can shop for Microsoft products when, where and how they
want to with all the information they need online and in-store.
To ensure that our customers find the information they need while in-store, remember:
1. Build a plan with the most progressive partners to deploy amazing in-store digital experiences
2. Have Microsoft-created interactive demo assets (PC-RDX, Xbox, Band) prevalent in the most
important stores and train the Retail Pros to use them
3. Deploy and test digital-enabled mobile (apps/web) and retail fixture experiences – small
screens, touchscreens, etc…
4. Leverage retailer mobile strategy/capabilities to enable Microsoft content through apps and
mobile web
5. Amplify brand with videos on TV walls and digital signage
Know the numbers
Measure & Monitor
Putting customers at the center of their business is critical for any retailer. Creating a 360-degree view
of customers, based on purchase history, preferences, extended demographics, shopping behavior and
other data, to fuel an integrated, customer-centric experience—is the key to retail marketing success.
To understand what has worked, what our customers want now, and what may be needed in the future,
we need to continuously gather data and measure and monitor. The potential for retailer testing is
enormous because of the sheer number of variables that stores can experiment with: search results,
product categories, pricing, product images, ratings, etc. And, retailers can measure the impact of the
changes directly in terms of revenue. If a change increases the average order value or revenue per
visitor, it gives a direct push to company’s bottom line. Working with retailers to analyze program and
sales results and to spot trends, helps us perfect executions in the future and increases sell-through.
To make ensure that every change produces positive results for you and your retailers:
10 “Digital Impact on In-Store Shopping: Research Debunks Common Myths”, Google, Oct. 2014.
https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/digital-impact-on-in-store-shopping_research-studies.pdf
2 in 3 shoppers who tried to find
information within a store say they
didn't find all the info they
needed.9

10. 1. Collect and organize currently available data sources – MS Sales, syndication and use Digital
Account Dashboard from account plan to identify data gaps
2. Fill in the gaps in the data with third-parties, and retailers
3. Integrate Digital KPIs into ROB—MBU, QBU
4. Test with retailer websites and in-store to optimize investment
5. Use analytics to make data-driven decisions that impact sell-through and send data to the global
team for analytics assistance and global competitive advantage
Deliver solutions fast and easy
Digital Distribution
We need to deliver products fast and easy with Digital Distribution.
Whether it is movies, games, books, apps, or software, consumers
are showing every day that they prefer the convenience of
purchasing digital products. In fact, 92% of all PC games were bought
as a digital download in 201311
. And, as the chart12
to the right
shows, sales of digital media are predicted to continue ramping up
worldwide over the next few years.
But our distributors and retail partners are still learning how to sell
with digital products, and the quality of execution varies widely
across partners. To help our channel partners, we need to each
become digital distribution experts. We all need to master the basics and tackle the advanced tactics
that can be leveraged with digital products, then we need to educate our retailers.
Be sure to:
1. Build disti sales motion with key partners in your market (Incomm, epay, Blackhawk, Tech Data)
2. Build POSA/PTR/ESD plan by retailer
3. Sell the profit story to our partners
4. Convert FPP retail volume to digital volume
5. Improve sales motions in retail through increased placement and digital channel expansion
Involve everyone
11
“Report: 92 percent of PC game sales in 2013 were digital”, Joystiq.com, Aug. 2014,
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/08/24/report-92-percent-of-pc-game-sales-in-2013-were-digital/
12
“Counting the Change”, The Economist, 8/17/13.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21583687-media-companies-took-battering-internet-cash-digital-sources-last

11. Owned Channel
Last, to extend our reach and our resources and achieve a synergy for retail within Microsoft, we need
to get everyone involved. We are continuing to leverage the channels that Microsoft already owns by
connecting across OEM, MS.COM (owned channels), Microsoft Store, and ATL.
Be sure that you:
1. Build an inventory of all owned channel properties – MSCOM, MSStore, Xbox Live, social, CRM
2. Be best-in-class in telling our product story with owned channels
3. Tell a consistent story across all owned channels and align retail marketing
4. Share test/performance learnings across internal organizations
5. Build account plan with microsoftstore.com
When we all communicate and work together, we can all succeed.

12. Our Creed. Our Actions. Our Destiny.
Ultimately, I am asking each of you today to share our passion for digital marketing. Embrace Digital
First and truly understand consumers and our retailers. Shop like an omnichannel customer using your
mobile devices everywhere at any time. Work with your retail
partner to understand their infrastructure and needs. Learn
all you can about consumers, the latest retail trends and
technology. Think beyond the norm and involve everyone to
build a synergy.
When we lead with innovative tools and personalized
experiences that give consumers the info they need to shop,
when, where and how they want, we win their love and
loyalty. Our retailers prosper. And we drive our destiny.
We have already started implementing the Digital First plan. Many of the assets and plans are currently
in development and field training is already underway.
“Your beliefs become your thoughts.
Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your values.
Your values become your destiny.”
- Mahatma Ghandi

13. About Nicolette Harper
Director, WW Digital Retail Marketing
Microsoft Corporation
As the Director for WW Digital Retail Marketing, Nicolette Harper is responsible for the digital marketing
strategy for all Microsoft products sold at retail around the world, including Xbox, Surface, Windows
Phone, Microsoft Hardware, Windows and Office. Nicolette and her team of subject matter experts
work with the sales/marketing groups and the product groups to create and implement online digital
marketing assets with retail partners worldwide, such as website and CRM tools, online and in-store
digital and the Xbox Kiosk.
Recognized senior-level strategic marketing champion with proven ability to grow revenue and market
share for enterprise companies such as; Verizon, UPS, Navistar, BOSCH, Dairy Queen, Papa Johns, Pizza
Hut, Subway and Wingstop.
Nicolette is an award-winning marketing expert, considered an authority in generating class-leading
consumer pull within digital marketing, mobile marketing, social media and direct marketing.
Her consumer focused marketing expertise has gained accolades and she has become a sought after
speaker on topics such as “understanding customer behaviors”, “increasing marketing ROI” and
“recognizing and commercializing consumer's full lifetime value.”
A few noted accomplishments:
1. Pioneered launch of Google's Mobile Search with click to call (Verizon)
2. Increased total online orders and conversions by 12-21% (marketing lead for Verizon
telecom global website redesign)
3. Increased Wingstop’s online sales by 34% through an increase in online presence
4. Ranked #1 Top Facebook and #3 Top Twitter Growth Brand, in Restaurants Social Media
Index for all restaurants (Wingstop Restaurants)
Nicolette holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing and Digital Media Technology, as well as an MBA
from Southern Methodist University, ranked #3 worldwide."